Berlin is such a big and amazing city that I kept discovering places which aren’t so well known but definitely deserve to be seen. Normally before I visit a city, I study it a lot on the Internet to find the most amazing spots. The five spots that I will show you, I’ve found on the Internet before I went to Berlin but it required me some time to find them. I hope I can save you some time and give you ideas of nice places to photograph, which aren’t normally on everyone’s list.

Berlin Unknown Spot 1 – Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm University Library

Coordinates: 52.520499, 13.390804

This is definitely my favorite of this list. If you have been following my work, you know that I love Libraries, check here. This Library is very modern and it looks like you are inside of vault. It belongs to the Humboldt University of Berlin and is the house of around 2,5 million books 🙂

If you want to photograph it empty, be sure to be there on opening time at 8AM.

Berlin Unknown Spot 2 – Marie Elisabeth Lüders House

Coordinates: 52.520463, 13.376104

This spot was already on my list for a long time. This place is so photogenic and you can take so many photos from different perspectives at different times of the day.

Unfortunately, like so many times, I went there and they were doing some renovation works and some scaffolds blocked the scene. Still, I really like this photo, but next time I will use a Polarizer filter to eliminate the reflections on the glass.

The Marie Elisabeth Lüders House and the Paul Löbe House are two amazing modern buildings that belong to the new parliament complex.

Berlin Unknown Spot 3 – Oberbaum Bridge (Oberbaumbrücke)

Coordinates: 52.502173, 13.446030

The Oberbaum bridge is right near the East Side Gallery (rests of the Berlin Wall) and has become a symbol of Berlin’s unity, after the fall of the wall. Before that, it was the connection between two areas of Berlin which were separated by the wall. A yellow tram passes by this bridge, but unfortunately I didn’t have much time to wait for it and catch it on this photo.

Berlin Unknown Spot 4 – City Courthouse Littenstrasse

Coordinates: 52.518632, 13.413452

From the outside you really have no idea what is hidden inside the City Courthouse building on the Littenstrasse, as it’s not the most beautiful architecture out there. But when you walk inside, “wow”.. There’s a security there so you can’t use a tripod. The building is really near the Alexanderplatz, one of the main attractions of the city.

Berlin Unknown Spot 5 – Sophie Charlotte Platz Subway Station

Coordinates: 52.510635, 13.295069

Last but not least, the Sophie Charlotte Platz subway station is a very simple but cute place. It has some nice paintings there and we stopped on purpose at this station, just to look at it. I made Andreia sit on one of the banks from the other side of the rails. She had to run very fast to come to the side of the station where I was at, to catch the train 🙂

Well, I hope you liked my list. Let me know what you think about it on the comments and if they are really hidden spots or if you already knew about them.

If you are in Berlin or going there, don’t forget to also shoot this places and not only the Landmarks!

Our first trip in 2017 was a visit to not only one, or two but three cities here in Germany: Würzburg, Bamberg and Rothenburg, in January.

These three cities are relatively small, specially the “mini-city” Rothenburg. As they are not so distant from each other, we took that weekend to explore them all.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg was the first city that we visited, only for a couple of hours, on our way to Bamberg. A very little city with lots of charm, even more when covered in snow. At the time we visited there was still some snow, as you can see on the top of the roofs on the next photo.

Rothenburg represents exactly what a typical German city represents, with their little houses resembling those fairy tales. It’s a city which is a little bit far from any big city, but there’s still some tourism there. Curiously all of the shops have their products on two languages, German an Chinese 😮

We couldn’t visit the complete city because it was already getting too late and we needed to do the check-in on the apartment in Bamberg, but still I could take a nice shot of this beautiful spot.

Bamberg

Bamberg was our favorite city of the three. We had a full day of blue skies, although 0°C was the hottest temperature.. It’s a city with many historical buildings that although it was bombed on the Second World War, as almost all of the German cities, it maintains much of the original architecture.

The location of the apartment couldn’t be better, right on the city center and 2 minutes by foot from the spot where I wanted to take photos. It would not be possible to find a better place if it wasn’t for Airbnb 🙂

I really like this photo not only due how beautiful the building is (old City Hall) but because of taking on total an hour to take this photo, with a temperature of -14°C. If I wouldn’t like this photo, I would be a “little” upset..

Würzburg

Würzburg is the largest city of the three, but maybe the less traditional. The city was brutally bombed during World War II by the English, destroying 90% of the city in only 17 minutes.. The city was reconstructed like it was before.

It has a huge fortress on the top and it’s without a doubt the highlight of the city. When we visited it, the Main river that goes through the city, was partially frozen!

Würzburg has other historic buildings like the Cathedral and the Würzburg Residence, which is below.

In short, it was a very interesting weekend, on which in only two days, we visited three cities. These three cities are not on every tourist guide but they deserve to be visited.

Porto

Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and it’s defined as the “North Capital” of Portugal. The historic center is an Unesco World Heritage Site and home to the internationally known, Port Wine.

Last summer on our vacations, we decided to stay in Porto for two days before going to Lisbon. The flights are cheaper to Porto, near our home and we were very curious to visit this city.

We were absolutely amazing about the city. It has a very unique culture and you can see that by the city architecture. I love that the city near the river is not flat, it makes the houses looking like steps. The buildings are not as well preserved as in Lisbon but I think that gives a very charming feeling to the city. People are really friendly and you are always welcome wherever you go. There are so many beautiful places to visit and I will definitely go back there.

“Sweet Dreams”, Porto – Behind the Scenes

This shot was taken, on what is on my opinion, the best spot in Porto. Serra do Pilar Church (Igreja da Serra do Pilar) is located on the other city of the Douro river and it’s actually in Vila Nova de Gaia and not Porto. From here, specially at sunset, you have an awesome cityscape view and you can see the historic center, the Dom Luis I Bridge and the Clérigos Church Tower, just to name a few.

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For this shot, I merged five photos, before, during and after sunset.

This first shot, was still before the sun set down and it was used because of the sun light on the buildings. If you see the next photos, the city is pretty dark. You can see that the sky is really bright, because of the light differences between the sky and city.

A little bit later, the sun was lower on the horizon and I used this shot for the sky. With some masking and a lot of work, I merged this sky with the photo above.

On this shot, I used some of the lights , that are not so bright on this shot as on the next ones.

Here on this shot, I merged the water from the river and some other lights of the city.

On this shot, I merged the beautiful car light trails that you see on the bridge, below.

The photo after all of the merging in Photoshop, looked like this.

After some color and contrast corrections, sharpening and noise correction, the final shot is this.

This shot was a little bit tricky to process. The city was really dark, after the sun set low, because the sun sets behind the buildings. As you can see the historic center is really low near the river and it’s going up. This is really beautiful, as creates some layers on the cityscape but the buildings that are higher, block the sunlight to the lower buildings.

Did you already visited Porto? Did you went to this spot? Let me know on the comments section below!

I felt the need to write this Post, sitting here on my office at lunch time (though I’m only posting on a Sunday) and really wishing to be somewhere else, travel dreaming, anywhere it’s sunny and warm. I know most of you must feel the same way, so you can understand this feeling of just leaving where you are now and go somewhere else.

In Germany, Winter is very different than in my homeland Portugal, not only because of much colder weather but because of the smaller amount of sunshine hours. There are weeks where I can’t even see the sun and I start working before sunrise and go out of work after sunset.

During this times, I think about all the travel that I’ve made and the ones I will make this year. My holidays dates are now confirmed, so I can finally start scheduling my trips 🙂

Last year 2016 Best Travel

Last year, Andreia and me, visited some amazing places and this was by far my best year in photography. My favorite photos were taken last year and my favorite trips were Cinque Terre and London.

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre has to be one of the most amazing places in the world. It’s really the perfect merge between a village and a natural landscape. With 5 villages to visit (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore), this place doesn’t disappoint no one who visits it, whether you only want to visit the villages or go to the beach and swim on the amazing clear water.

London

London is the most awesome city where I’ve been. We were really lucky do have such great sunsets in April, when normally rains like hell..(does it really rain in hell?..Thought of the Day..).

London is the place which changed my photography the most and it was after this visit that I felt confident to start my website and share my Portfolio online. Though London is one of the most populous cities in the world, I’ve never had that feeling of too much people on the same place. London is so big, with so many places to visit and the transport system both subway as well as bus are the best I’ve seen until now. Another big plus and the most obvious thing, is that everyone speaks English. I also spoke with more strangers than I’ve ever did, because it was not only easy to speak in English (instead of German) but the people were very curious to see my photos. I’ve met other talented photographers and spoke with really a lot of Portuguese people there =)

2017 Travel Plan

So this year the plan stays the same, being 3 weeks in Portugal to visit Family and Friends and 3 weeks traveling. From these 3 weeks, one week is to stay on a big City, one week on a more natural and relaxed place and the last week to stay on a smaller city with a mixture of landscape, with sunny weather.

April

In April, on my birthday, we are going to Berlin and Hamburg by train. It’s a much longer trip on the high speed train (around 9 hours) but we found a great price for this, comparing with an airplane. We want to stay around 4 days there and then catch a train to Hamburg where we will stay for 3 more days. I’m very excited both Berlin and Hamburg which are the biggest cities in Germany by population. There are lots of opportunities to take some great Cityscape photos so I hope that the weather gods help us! (Rain dance..anyone? =D)

July

In July we have 3 weeks of vacation and 2 of them will be in Lisbon, to visit family and friends. It’s actually quite difficult to find time to take photos, although I have so many spots which I’m looking forward to add to my Portfolio.

On the other week of July the plan is to go to the amazing Dolomites, which are a very well known area in the Italian Alps. We have to drive 4 to 5 hours from our home. I’m finding some difficulties knowing where to sleep, to be able to have easy access to the spots I want to visit. Not sure if we stay at an apartment rented on Airbnb or on a camping site. If anyone has any tips, let me know on the comments below!

October

Then on the anniversary of Andreia, we have one week but it’s still an open point. There are many places which I want to visit. I’m thinking about a merge between nature and city. At this time, my ideas are: Meteora, Greece; Santorini, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia and Malta.

All of them are on the south of Europe, because at this time we really want to go somewhere sunny. Well, at least more sunny than here.. It’s still an open point, but I hope to find a nice price for any of this places.

December

Finally in December, this year unfortunately I can’t spend Christmas in Lisbon..but still we’ll be there a week before =)

What’s Next?

Throughout this year I will test some new equipment that I acquired. I’m beyond excited for what’s coming and the places I will show to you!

We are also very excited for 2018, when we will have some great new projects and plans to do a lot more travel. But more on that later this year =)

Do you have any travel planned for this year? Let me know where you will go or what you would love to visit this year!

Azenhas do Mar is a small village on the coastline in Sintra and it’s a small paradise which resembles a little Cinque Terre, in Italy. I’ve lived many years a few kilometers from there and it was necessary to emigrate to finally go there 😀

To take this photo, I had to go to this place two times, because on the first try, I was already too late. On my second attempt, I had some spare time before the sunset to scout the location for the best spot. It was a little windy so I had to fix well the tripod so that it will not move during the shooting. If the tripod moves with the wind, the photo will appear blurry. It will also make the merging of several photos taken at different times very difficult to join on Photoshop, because of perspective changes.

Initial Photos

The final photo is composed by 5 initial photos, on which I joined elements from each one.

The first photo is the base of the final photo, the scene is well exposed, during the golden hour.

The second photo that I joined was the sky and I used also the lights of the street lamps.

On the third photo, I liked how the sea looked like, but I had to remove the red tones near the beach, due to the lights on the beach.

On this photo, I used only the rocks with the smooth water on them, near the oceanic pool. Here I had to remove the blue tone on the water foam, which should be completely white.

On this last photo, I used only the waves near the oceanic pool. Here I had also to remove the blue tone on the water foam.

Joining all of this photos and applying the Color Effex Pro, I’ve brought some life to the photo, with better colors and contrast.

On the final photo I corrected the perspective distortion of the wide angle lens. Some color failures were also corrected, like the red and blue tones on the water and the blue tone on the houses.

Before and After

And here is a basic step by step of how I post processed this photo. I hope you liked it.

I think this place is still relatively unknown to many people, which is good to who wants to visit Azenhas do Mar without the big crowds that are on places like Cinque Terre.

This is maybe one of my favourite photos, not only because of the final result, but because it’s near my House, in Portugal.

Have you already been in Azenhas do Mar? Leave a comment below with your opinion about this Post!:)

London is the capital and most populous city in England and the United Kingdom and one of the biggest cities the world. If you have a Bucket List for cities to visit, London should be on your Top 5.

On the last few years, London has seen a rise in modern Architecture, with some of the most amazing skyscrappers and buildings. You can see cranes everywhere in the city and each new year, the city is expanding more and more.

I will give you here what in my opinion are the 10 Best Spots in London to Photograph, by no particular order.

The Shard and surroundings

The Shard is the tallest building in London, the 4th in Europe but only the 105th in the world. It was inaugurated in 2012 and resembles a sci-fi movie which generated a little bit of controversy for the inhabitants. Now it’s seen as a Landmark of the city, where you can have an amazing but expensive view of the city, at the top of the building on the observation deck.

I love this spot, specially at sunset, when the lights of the office buildings come out. At morning or weekends, I think the shot will not be as good because not so many people are working as in the sunset hours.

I found this spot on the amazing website Location Scout, where you can find the best spots from all over the world. Be sure to check it out here.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge, which many people including myself, confuse with London Bridge, is one of the best known bridges in the world and one of the highlights of the city.

You can photograph Tower Bridge from many different spots, but I found this one to be the most interesting one. I intentionally blocked The Shard with one of the Bridge Towers, because I wanted to highlight the Bridge. At sunset is the best time from this spot, as the sun sets behind the Bridge.

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster also known as House of Parliament, is the symbol of London, with the most known monument being the Elizabeth Tower or Big Ben.

The best spot to photograph this monument, is in my opinion, from the other side of the River Thames. Unfortunately at this time, maintenance works are being made on the monument and that was the reason for me to not include more of the Palace in the photo below.

I wrote a Post of the Behind the Scenes from this photo. Click here to take a look!

Big Ben

The Elizabeth Tower or Big Ben and one of the most known monuments in the world. In early 2017, maintenance works are going to start, so be very quick to take a photo now!

My favourite spot to include only the Big Ben, is behind an entrance, which serves as a frame for the shot. The photo below with the bride was actually completely unexpected. If you want to know the story behind it, click here.

And here a photo at night.

St. Paul’s Cathedral and Millenium Bridge

St. Paul’s Cathedral, with its famous dome, is the most famous church in London and it was until 1967 the highest building in the city.

The Millenium Bridge was initially opened in 2000 but was later closed on the opening day due to a swaying motion. Modifications were made and it was reopened two years after. The bridge was built in such a way that doesn’t block the view of the Cathedral.

I really like two spots to take photos of this church. One is on the end of the Millenium Bridge. I love the lights that turn on at night on the bridge serving as a nice foreground for the photo.

The other spot is below the bridge and I like the vertical composition, which is not so usual on my Portfolio.

Greenwich and Canary Wharf

The Greenwich Royal Observatory is known as the location of the prime meridian. From this view point, Canary Wharf can be seen, which is a business district with some of the tallest buildings in Europe.

The view from the top of the Observatory is really amazing. You can see the Queen’s House below in the photo and the Canary Wharf district behind it. Take notice that the park has opening and closing time so if you want to take a photo at sunrise or sunset take special time at which time of the year you can do this.

Natural History Museum

The National History Museum in London, is one of the most important museums in the world and its free to visit! The entrance to the Geological exhibition is this amazing “stairs that pass through the center of the world”. On this museum you can also find the world famous Dinosaur exhibition.

It’s really difficult to take this shot without any people so be one of the first to enter the building or expect to wait some time 🙂

Leadenhall Market

The Leadenhall Market is not by any means a famous place but I really like its Architecture details. It is one of the oldest markets in London and is located in the historic center of the City of London financial district.

Like many other spots, be sure to be there early if you don’t want anyone on the shot.

Convent Garden

Convent Garden is a district in London and it is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square. Now it’s a popular shopping and tourist site which is also known as Convent Garden. It’s a really nice place, specially at Christmas time, when it’s full of lights. My girlfriend Andreia, which also as a Blog, made a video of London, on which you can see those lights. To see it, click here.

You can also see a lot of spectacular street performers there.

Kings Cross Railway Station

Kings Cross railway station is a major London railway terminus and where you can catch the train to Hogwarts, on the famous platform 9¾ 🙂

Some restoration works were done on this station and a steel structure was built to serve as a ceiling.

And that’s it. Always very difficult to choose only 10 spots. If you liked this list, you can also check my Top 10 of Barcelona, clicking here.

Comment below if you agree or disagree with this Top 10. If not, let me know your favourite places to photograph in London!

It’s now one year since I visited Barcelona, but I can’t forget that wonderful city, full of colors and joy. The city has a huge diversity and it’s really difficult for anyone not to like it, because it has something for each person. Barcelona has beaches, mountains around it, many museums, old and modern architecture and almost always sunny weather.

Here I write my 10 best spots in Barcelona to experience the city.

Agbar Tower and area around it

This tower is without a doubt the most luminous building at night. With its bright red and blue lights it’s a spot that I recommend to visit especially at night.

Around it you can find the Disseny Museum that has an illuminated area on the floor, that change colors. When I was there were some chairs, I don’t know if they are still there, but you can sit there and relax. On this area you can find also the Mercat del Encants, which is a flea market, on which you can find many different products. The structure is recent and has an amazing golden ceiling.

Park Güell

Barcelona is an expensive city, mainly on the entraces of museums. They all have high prices, but if you onnly visit one, I recommend de Park Güell. Be careful to buy the ticket some time before, because there is limited visitors per day.

La Sagrada Familia

This top could not be done without the city’s most recognizable spot, La Sagrada Familia. When the construction is finished, it will be the highest church in the world. All around the city you can see the amazing imagination from Antoni Gaudi, but this is maybe his masterpiece.

Barri Gotic

To have a experience of what Barcelona is, we have to lose ourselves on the little streets of the Gothic Quarter, where each corner has it’s own story to tell. On this area you will see and feel the city, like nowhere else on Barcelona.

Font Magica

Between the Plaça d’Espanya and the Montjuic complex, you find the Magical Fountain. I recommend that you visit this fountain at night and on the light show days, on which the fountain is illuminated with different colors. It was my favourite experience of my trip to Barcelona.

The show takes about 30 minutes and don’t forget to go earlier, so that you find the best place. See the Timelapse that I’ve made, below.

La Rambla

The most know city in Barcelona and maybe the most busy, is a mixture of colors, smells and emotions. Here you can find flowers, clothes and souvenir shops, as well as the La Boqueria Market.

This market is probably the best I’ve seen to date, on which everything is well organized and the variety of products is amazing. I recommend that you visit this place to eat awesome food and drink fruit juices, at really good prices.

View of Barcelona

To get a privileged view of the city, you have to walk a little bit up the the streets to the Bunker del Carmel or to the Turó de les Tres Creus.

The view at sunrise or sunset is really amazing, so just sit and relax seeing both the city and the sky changing colors.